Zach yawned. "Uf" the boy rolled off the bed, hitting the hard wooden floor with a 'thud'. Zach sat up, wearily glancing at the clock. It was already 5:00 pm? He stood, pulling on a shirt and some jeans, clothes that the girls had sent him. It was so unlike him to sleep in, especially this late. He had been up all night thinking, which was never a good thing. Zach raked his fingers through messy blonde hair, smoothing it out as best he could. Zach didn't waste any time, slipping on his shoes and rushing down Okawa's stair-like boughs. He was supposed to be at Ravenswood an hour ago. Zach stalked across the field, looking around. The big red dragon, Drake, was nowhere to be seen. How do you misplace something so large and, well, red?
"Drake, where are you?" he asked aloud, frustration in his voice.
"Dragon Home..." the dragon replied telepathically. He obviously wasn't very happy with Zach's tone.
"O-oh... I knew that..." Zach stated, embarrassed that it had slipped his mind. "See you tomorrow" there was no response, but he wasn't exactly expecting one.
Zach waved his arm in the air, trying frantically to open the portal. On any other day opening a portal seemed to be an easy task for him. He had been using portals his whole life. He had much more experience using them than others had; Aldenmore was riddled with them after all. However today, in his rushed state of mind, anything could slow him down. The portal didn't open. Frustration wasn't an emotion commonly displayed by the teen. Zach stood perfectly still. Closing his eyes, he tried to still his racing thoughts and summon the portal. He had to admit, this was odd behaviour for him, he had been on edge for the past two days now. Soon enough the portal presented itself to him. He stepped through with ease, barley noticing the jump itself. Zach arrived at the preserve with no trouble at all.
Walking down a trail, he looked around, taking in the familiar landscape of Ravenswood. The preserve had been like a second home to him over that last four years. Zach rushed down the trail towards Adriane's cabin. Zach sighed as he reached the door. He really hated being late. Sure, Zach was the time mage, but using time magic was hard, and exhausting, only to be used in emergencies. He had found that out the hard way. Zach knocked on the door. After a short moment the door creaked open slowly to reveal an older woman with long greying hair. She had a sweet, familiar face, and a welcoming smile.
"Oh, Zachariah! How nice of you to stop by" Gran said in her usual soothing tone.
"Is Adriane in?" he asked.
"Yes, of course. She's in the kitchen," Gran explained "come in, come in" she insisted.
Zach stepped inside, slipping off his shoes, and padding into the dining room. He could tell that Adriane was no longer in the kitchen. Sure enough he found her, sitting at the table staring into a steaming mug.
"I'll make you some tea" Gran stated, not bothering to ask if he even wanted any. She left the two of them and headed into the kitchen.
Adriane looked up, "So, where have you been?" she asked coolly.
"I slept in" he said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other awkwardly. "Sorry"
"You do know there's an alarm on that clock I gave you, right?" She asked. She told him that right? She could have sworn she told him.
Adriane knew Zach could take care of himself, but she couldn't help but worry a bit. She had considered going to see what was taking him so long, but Gran had caught her in a story. There was just no way she could get away for fifteen minutes. One story led to another, and soon they had been talking for a few hours.
"You never told me that!" Zach exclaimed, irritation filling his voice.
Adriane frowned "Is something the matter?" she asked, a look of worry spreading across her dark features. Zach had been acting strangely for the past couple of days. It wasn't like him to get so worked up over something so small.
Zach opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by Gran forcing a mug of warm peppermint tea into his hands.
"Sit down!" she pushed, pulling out her own chair and sitting.
Zach pulled up a seat next to Adriane. Maybe it was the aroma of the tea, or perhaps it was the stream of cool wolf magic rushing silently into his jewel, whatever it was, he felt much better.
Gran barley noticed the sparkle of Adriane's jewel. "So, Zachariah, what brings you here today?" Gran was no idiot. She knew exactly why the boy was there; still she felt it would be polite to ask.
"Just here to check out the preserve" he glanced at Adriane. "It looks great."
She smiled. The pair stayed to finish their tea, before excusing themselves. The rest of the day had been spent chasing down quiffles that had strayed too close to the road, and a group of jeeran. It was already late in the day though, and darkness was slowly starting to creep its way across the sky.
Adriane sat tiredly in the middle of the manor field. Zach joined her, though he wasn't tired in the slightest.
"So... What's Drake up to today?" she asked, suddenly very interested in the whereabouts of her baby boy. He usually came over with Zach, not that she was worried. A full grown dragon could take care of himself, and she knew Zach would tell her if there was a problem.
"H-he's back at D-dragon Home" the boy stuttered. He felt bad, having snapped at him like that.
Adriane laid back, watching the sky as it darkened. Zach did the same. It was a chilly fall evening, but Adriane didn't feel cold, not with Zach beside her. Dragon magic was hot, and Zach was filled with it. So much so that when he used magic his skin would become hot to the touch. Zach barely noticed the gradual change in his body temperature, though he had given Kara some nasty burns over the years.
"Hey look a star" Adriane pointed to the tiny white pin-prick in the indigo coloured sky. Zach nodded silently.
"Adriane..." he started.
"Yeah?" she asked, turning her head to look at him.
"What are stars made of?" he asked curiously.
"In my world? Stars are just balls of exploding gas, mostly hydrogen and helium," she explained, quoting her chemistry textbook. "In your world... who knows" she trailed off, turning her line of vision back to the sky, though his eyes never left her.
Zach nodded as if he understood. He didn't, but he pretended. Zach sighed. He didn't understand anything about her world. There it was again. That constant train of thought that lingered in the background of his mind was suddenly pulled forward. Her world. My world. They were two different things... Right? Right.
Adriane felt a sudden tug on her magic. It felt like a connection had been severed, like there was some sort of mental block between her and Zach.
"H-hey. What's wrong?" she asked, sitting up. Adriane looked into his bright blue eyes. Nothing. Adriane blinked.
"Nothing" he shook his head. "Don't worry about it."
She frowned. Of course she was going to worry about it. He was her boyfriend after all. As if reading her mind Zach pulled her down into a hug.
"I'm fine, just forget about it" he said, squeezing her tight. She nodded in agreement, though she couldn't help feeling uneasy.
Wooh. Second chapter. Poor Zach. Theres quite a bit of dialog in this. Oh weeeell theres nothing wrong with that. Thanks for reading, don't forget to tell me what you think!
p.s. I know the name is really cheesy, but I'm terrible of thinking up names, so until I think of a better one you'll just have to bear with it.
